Chambers Bay Hole 8

[Anthony Gray]

   602   Par 5    HCP 1

  Its greatness is in its simplicity. The hole is dead straight slightly uphill. No bunkers but trouble on each side of the narrowest hole on the course. Hole sits on the highest point on the course with a 100 foot ledge guarding the right. The challenge is the lak of width. Great risk/reward.


  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  

  Only Garland can get up and down for par rom the access road.

  

  Anthony

[Mike Wagner]

I wouldn't say great risk/reward here, but this hole has certainly grown on me. 

[Kalen Braley]

Anthony,

Keep these threads pumping out, loving these ones.

I am curious though, how do you figure its risk/reward?  Looks almost 100% penal to me....hit the fairway or else.

[Anthony Gray]

I wouldn't say great risk/reward here, but this hole has certainly grown on me. 

  Mike,

  R/R from the stand point of challenging the green in two that if offline ends over the ledge or up on the hill. No place to miss and have a decent chance at recovery.

  Anthony

[Garland Bayley]

I wouldn't say great risk/reward here, but this hole has certainly grown on me. 

When we discussed Oakmont before it hosted the open, many of the posters suggested the risk/reward had to do with how far you decided to hit it, vs. where you decided to hit it.

Some of us think a hazard on the left front of the green would be a great risk reward addition to this hole.

[Brian Phillips]

I am really sorry but that hole looks awful...

Is that containment mounding on the right side in the second picture?

When is the course getting the US Open?

[Rob Rigg]

8 and 9 are usually on the short list of least favorite holes at CB based on discussions that I have had.

I think 8 calls for two to three fairly precise shots and one interesting aspect of the hole is the feeling of playing along the ledge of a cliff, almost like walking a path with a steep face to the left and steep drop off to the right.

Everything on the fwy kicks to the right which is why they had to build up some sort of mounding assistance on the right side before the drop. I agree with Brian that it doesn't look great, but without it there would be a lot of second and third shots played from the driving range.

I wonder if this hole ever should have been built? It might have been more interesting to hit an elevated drive from the current tee box along the range - to the ninth green and then maybe play a flatter par three back along the other part of the range close to the tenth tee.

Anyways, it's a challenging hole for sure unless you can rip it 300 yards up the fairway and then smash a driver off the deck to get on in two like Mr Wagner . . . Golf must be no fun for you!

[Brian Phillips]

Sorry, I could not resist this but..

"hello tower, this is Yankee Yankee Foxtrot 2 4, are we clear for landing? Over."

[Kyle Harris]

Sorry, I could not resist this but..

"hello tower, this is Yankee Yankee Foxtrot 2 4, are we clear for landing? Over."

Negative Ghostrider, the pattern is full.

[Matt_Ward]

Brian:

Well said indeed ... the hole looks from the photos alone in need of some sprucing up from a turf side.

[Rob Rigg]

Negative Ghostrider, the runway is off camber and will mangle your landing gear.

Ben - Can you land anything on this runway?

[Garland Bayley]

Brian:

Well said indeed ... the hole looks from the photos alone in need of some sprucing up from a turf side.

I see! So the architecture hasn't been activated, because the conditioning is poor!

[Anthony Gray]

Anthony,

Keep these threads pumping out, loving these ones.

I am curious though, how do you figure its risk/reward?  Looks almost 100% penal to me....hit the fairway or else.

  Three 5-irons,wedge two putt bogey OR Driver over the hill OR Driver, 3 wood over the hill.

  Anthony

[Rob Rigg]

When were these pics taken for the record?

I have some similar photos from earlier this year and I don't think the turf looked like that - CB always seems to get a bad rap for their greens, turf, etc. but I believe it is improving significantly every time I visit.

Hopefully others can comment as well - not to get the thread off track of course . . .

[Kyle Harris]

The playing surfaces look fine and the rough looks like... rough.

Hell, I'd say that's near perfect...

[Garland Bayley]

When were these pics taken for the record?

I have some similar photos from earlier this year and I don't think the turf looked like that - CB always seems to get a bad rap for their greens, turf, etc. but I believe it is improving significantly every time I visit.

Hopefully others can comment as well - not to get the thread off track of course . . .

The were taken in August either just before or just after the Grudge Match. Anthony went there the day before and the day after the Grudge Match as he flew into and out of SeaTac.

[Bill Gayne]

  602   Par 5    HCP 1

  Its greatness is in its simplicity. The hole is dead straight slightly uphill. No bunkers but trouble on each side of the narrowest hole on the course. Hole sits on the highest point on the course with a 100 foot ledge guarding the right. The challenge is the lak of width. Great risk/reward.

How can one have a "great risk/reward" hole without width that provides angles or some curvature to the hole such as cape hole? This appears to be a page out of the RTJ sr penal school of design philosophy that has been repeated many times over.

[Ron Farris]

I am sorry, but if someone presented the picture showing the hole from the green to the tee and asked me if I was interested in playing this course, I would say no thank you.

[Garland Bayley]

I am sorry, but if someone presented the picture showing the hole from the green to the tee and asked me if I was interested in playing this course, I would say no thank you.

That's a disappointment Ron. One would hope you would say, "What else is there?".

[Ron Farris]

I know what is there and I have a efinitely have a desire to go and play.  I thought I would post a dumb comment based simply on a picture only.  I am trying to up my post count 

[Sean Leary]

8 and 9 are usually on the short list of least favorite holes at CB based on discussions that I have had.

I think 8 calls for two to three fairly precise shots and one interesting aspect of the hole is the feeling of playing along the ledge of a cliff, almost like walking a path with a steep face to the left and steep drop off to the right.

Everything on the fwy kicks to the right which is why they had to build up some sort of mounding assistance on the right side before the drop. I agree with Brian that it doesn't look great, but without it there would be a lot of second and third shots played from the driving range.

I wonder if this hole ever should have been built? It might have been more interesting to hit and elevated drive from the current tee box along the range - to the ninth green and then maybe play a flatter par three back along the other part of the range close to the tenth tee.

Anyways, it's a challenging hole for sure unless you can rip it 300 yards up the fairway and the smash a driver off the deck to get on in two like Mr Wagner . . . Golf must be no fun for you!

I agree with everything you say here. It has grown on me, but I will never understand why they went up to that part of the property. 

[Adam Lawrence]

I assumed after I went round the course (which I loved) that the eighth was a necessity in order to get to the ninth tee. I know the ninth has taken a lot of heat on here, and I agree it's an atypical hole for a links course, but for myself, I rather liked it. The green has so much going on that, depending on flag position you can hit a variety of different shots; I was delighted that they hadn't built the back up against the natural camber, as I think lots of designers would have done, certainly if the course had been built five or ten years earlier, and one shouldn't discount the eye candy value given the objectives for which the course was created.

Plus when we were standing on the tee, we saw a redtail soaring around below us, which was pretty cool.

(I suppose I should have saved this for the discussion of the ninth itself, but to me the eighth exists to make the ninth possible).

[Scott_Burroughs]

Sorry for the delay, Anthony....been out of town for a few days.... 



Similar fate happened to a playing partner:

[Tom Yost]

The above photo very familiar to me, except my caddie gave me a club and sent me up the hill alone while keeping my camera.

The tee shot at #8 is most uncomfortable for me as I tend to hit a fade.  Standing on the tee, it looks as if everything will roll right and anything that is already moving right looks like it will certainly roll off the edge.  The fairway is in fact, very generous and will hold a shot, most of the intimidation comes from the illusion. 

My thought was to hit a draw that will hit and hold into the slope.  Not a shot I hit on command, the result a big pull hook.  What follows is a photo essay of my Chambers Bay hole 8 experience:


Second shot from the gunch


Still fearing the right side, I pull another shot that stays left.  Third shot from the gunch.


With green in sight, my heroic shot fails and I'm still in the gunch. Fourth shot from just above the green.


Through the green and into the gunch on the downhill side, I play my fifth shot onto the green, two putt, and card my double bogey seven.

 

[Anthony Gray]

  I think one thing that gets overlooked with this hole is that it provides a new and different challenge to the golfer than the proceeding holes.

  1- Club selection....because of the lack of width club selection it at a premium here compared to the preceeding holes. The longer an off center shot is the more the trouble comes into play off the tee and on the second.

  2- More choices and thus more stratgy.

  3- The most penal hole on the course.

  Anthony

  Love the Tom Yost action photos...they make Garland jealous.